Former Dolphins receiver Mark Duper has been arrested and accused of punching a child, knocking him unconscious and threatening to kill him.

Local 10 in Miami reports that Duper was arrested in Jacksonville and accused of child abuse.

According to the arrest form, Duper punched a child and knocked him unconscious and threatened to kill the child. According to News 4 in Jacksonville, the victim was a teenager, and another man came to his aid and pulled Duper off him. The victim was able to leave the house where the incident took place, and the Department of Children and Families was called in to investigate.

In my opinion, one of the greatest threats to the American family and to the ability of parents to raise their kids with values are government institutions such as DCF.

Now, I know that there are times DCF steps in to legitimately abusive situations, or cases where the parents are criminals or drug addicts or for some other serious reason, unfit to raise a child. But there are other cases in which they go too far.

I have a friend who had her daughter taken away from her for two weeks because she had a burn mark caused by a hair iron that inadvertently fell on her arm. The school saw it and reported it to DCF and they came and took her daughter away for two weeks. She had to lawyer up and go through an investigation. When they determined there was no legal basis to keep the child, they were forced to give her back. But they were looking for ANY reason to keep her.

You have to be careful nowadays with how you raise your kids, a spank or any other minor form of "correction" can be reported by a neighbor or someone who saw you do it at a store and next thing you know the government is taking your child away.

In my opinion, one of the greatest threats to the American family and to the ability of parents to raise their kids with values are government institutions such as DCF.

This makes it difficult for parents to discipline their kids.

I agree with you 100% Rich. Things have changed since I was a kid in the 1970's. But I am not sure there is ever a justification for choking a kid or threatening to kill him. I am sure more details will come out.

In my opinion, one of the greatest threats to the American family and to the ability of parents to raise their kids with values are government institutions such as DCF.

This makes it difficult for parents to discipline their kids.

I agree with you 100% Rich. Things have changed since I was a kid in the 1970's. But I am not sure there is ever a justification for choking a kid or threatening to kill him. I am sure more details will come out.

I'm not defending Mark Duper. But like you said, we need more information.

Did his son start the fight? If my son started a fight with me, he's going to pay holy hell.

I think it was a friend of his son. The reports say that the victim's father separated the two of them...

The reports say Hugh Green, who had his son over playing with Duper's son, separated Duper from his son.

According to an arrest report, Mark "Super" Duper, 54, got into a fight with what Channel 4 was told was his 17-year-old son. While it started as an argument over the victim's girlfriend, the report says Duper punched the teen, threw him to the ground and choked him. Police were family friend Hugh Green -- another former Dolphins player -- pulled Duper off the boy.

"After 10 minutes of fighting, Duper told the boy to leave his house, according to the arrest affidavit. The boy began to leave but walked back inside the house to grab a jacket, and he and Duper again began fighting. The boy's father separated the pair when he saw Duper punching his son in a bedroom."

“Mark had scratched-up knees and cuts and all kind of stuff. There were no punches passed. It was more wrestling as Mark defended himself,” said Green, who was visiting at the time. “... What is happening to Mark shouldn’t be happening. He was a father trying to defend himself from a son who thinks he can beat him.”

Green, now back at his home in Mississippi, told the Times-Union he and his family had been invited to visit Duper during spring break. They were in the home when Duper learned that his son had sent a threatening text to his girlfriend. Duper began to discuss that with his son.

Green said the teen’s attitude was that he had done nothing wrong. That’s when the argument began.

He said the teen, who the Times-Union is not identifying because he’s a juvenile and has not been charged, is not a small kid but he’s not a big kid either.

“But he is an athletic, very strong kid and he challenged his father,” Green said.

This is really ridiculous. I'm not saying Duper was right, but the media are making this sound like he beat up a 4th grader! This was a punk 17 year old who was "threatening" someone and then got in his face. If this was ANYONE not famous this wouldn't have even been a story and no way the father gets arrested.

"Authorities say Duper attacked his son, Marcus, three times and knocked him out twice.

Former Dolphins defensive end Hugh Green told The Associated Press by telephone that he witnessed the brawls. He said Marcus Duper started the fights, thinking he could "beat his father." Green and his 18-year-old son had stopped to visit Duper and his son after attending a charity golf outing in Miami earlier in the week.

"I saw Mark defending himself after a young son was defiant," Green said.

The police report said Duper "punched his son in the face one time because he wouldn't listen to him about picking up his hat." The report said Duper then "took his son to the ground, grabbed him, then picked him up several times and slammed him to the ground, causing him to lose consciousness for a short period of time."

Duper then ordered his son out of the house, according to authorities. The son left but returned to get a jacket, the report said, which resulted in a second fight.

Green stepped in to break up the fight and, the report says, discovered that Marcus Duper "lost consciousness once again for a short period of time."

Green said he then escorted Marcus Duper out of the house. The teen then "pushed his bike into his father's vehicle," according to the police report.

The elder Duper saw him and went outside to confront his son a third time. Police say Duper "climbed on top of his son, grabbed his son by the neck and began choking his son."

Green again intervened and the younger Duper went to a friend's residence."

1. We don't know the facts, so I am only responding to what has been posted here. 2. IF this is true, it legit breaks my heart as a father of one son to think that their relationship was this dysfunctional. What kind of scars does that leave on a boy to deal with as an adult?

Tragic. Heartbreaking. I only hope that some sort of intervention could possibly lead to reconciliation.

"After 10 minutes of fighting, Duper told the boy to leave his house, according to the arrest affidavit. The boy began to leave but walked back inside the house to grab a jacket, and he and Duper again began fighting. The boy's father separated the pair when he saw Duper punching his son in a bedroom."